Senate Republicans Pass Immigration Enforcement Funding After Blocking Attempts To Ban Trump’s $1.8 Billion Fund

BreakingBusinessSenate Republicans Pass Immigration Enforcement Funding After Blocking Attempts To Ban Trump’s $1.8 Billion FundBySiladitya Ray,Forbes Staff. Siladitya Ray is a New Delhi-based Forbes news team reporter.Follow AuthorJun 05, 2026, 06:04am EDTToplineSenate Republicans early on Friday passed a $70 billion legislation to fund agencies overseeing President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown for the next three years, after circumventing a bipartisan push to make additions to the bill that would have permanently blocked Trump’s controversial $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund.Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., walks from the chamber to his office at the Capitol in Washington.Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reservedKey FactsThe legislation to keep Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol funded for the rest of Trump’s term, passed 52-47 shortly before 5 a.m.Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, was the only GOP senator who voted no.The bill was passed through a budget reconciliation process, which allowed Republicans to circumvent the Democratic filibuster while allowing Democrats to force a series of amendment votes.The so-called vote-a-rama process lasted several hours and saw multiple attempts by both Democrats and Republicans to add amendments that would have permanently banned the “anti-weaponization” fund.The Democrats' proposal to ban the fund narrowly failed to pass 50-49, but saw three GOP senators who are up for reelection—Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Jon Husted of Ohio and Dan Sullivan of Alaska—vote along with them. Two other Republican Sens. Bill Cassidy, R-La. and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., who recently lost to primary challengers backed by Trump, also tried to push their own amendments to block or repurpose the the $1.8 billion fund. if (!window.cnxel) { window.cnxel = {}; window.cnxel.cmd = []; var iframe = document.createElement('iframe'); iframe.style.display = 'none'; iframe.onload = function() { var ifr...